that is easy..when I was racing SCCA my 400hp WRX was getting spanked in the corners by a E36 M3...he let me take it for a few laps after the race and all I could think about was when will I would be able to afford a nice M3...10 years later I have owned 4 in the last 2 years..love them

New York Auto Show (circa 90's) sat in a E36 and was blown away how comfortable the seats were. Then I walked around the car and fell in love with the aggressive look. Still my dream to own one of those, for now the E92 will have to do. :P

Seeing the E30 M3 in a magazine when I was about 4 years old started my love affair for BMW in general. It was Henna Rot. I remember it like it was yesterday.

My first real love for M as a department was the first time I saw press pics of the E39 M5. That was the first time in my life I looked at the car and thought it was PERFECT. I wouldn't change a thing about it.

While everyone's dream car was a 911 or Ferrari, I wanted a 4 door sedan with 400hp

This is what started a love affair
Growing up, this was the car I fantasized about
it wasn't a Ferrari, or a Porsche
It was this M3
There was something magical about it
The whole built for the racetrack and that they had to build 5000 to sell to the public

As a kid I watched my neighbor clean and work on his E30 M3 every week. He was a close friend of my father and one day asked if I wanted to help him wash his car in return he'd pay me $20. I would have gladly done it for free, but hey $20 bucks, I'll take it. At that moment I knew I wanted to own one. Back then we didn't have Google, I was armed with Netscape and WebCrawler. I searched for photos and printed them out on my fathers BubbleJet Color printer. I had pictures of the E30 M3 Sport Evolution all over my wall. I was set and had a goal. Few years after college I was fortunate enough to purchase my first E46 M3, but that was short lived. The car was my daily driver and that consisted of me driving my mom. Seeing it's a 2 door and she is at age, having her constantly get in and out of the car didn't make sense.

I had to sell the M3 and opted for a 330i. Life throws you many curve balls, the M3 and I never rekindled. Eventually sold the 330i and went a year without a car. I eventually decided to jump on a 4 door 335i. Went to my local BMW dealer, met with a sales rep. and ask if I can test drive one of their 335i. Right of the bat the guy gave me the run arounds, wasn't helpful at all. Even ask if I can afford one, maybe it was how I was dressed. Yankee fitted, white Ts, sweats and my Air Max 95 gave him false impression that I was young, who knows. At that point I was irritated and just left. On my way home I saw a Lexus dealership and decided to stop by. The sales guy was very helpful and due to my frustration with the BMW dealership, well I eventually drove off with an IS350.

But there is still that void of owning an M car that an IS350 or any other car could not fill. Years passed and I heard BMW was planning on releasing a 4 door M3, I was sooooo excited. No more compromising, my mom and everyone else can ride in my car with out an issue. I was ready to trade in my IS350, when again life throws a curve ball. Got engaged and planned on getting married in the next coming year. My wife now promised after the wedding I can plan on trading in the car for the M3. Being responsible husband that I am opted to purchase a condo instead.

I would constantly visit the forums read up on articles about the M3 and one day my wife took notice. Finally she tells me, "Hun why don't you get your car" I simply replied "Why where we going?" she laughed and says no I mean get your M3 Wait what? Months and months of searching, old flame sparked and that love finally rekindled. That same feeling I got when I was 14 is now happening, 19 years later.

Proud owner...

Awesome story and beautiful ride! Why didn't you end up with the e90 though as you said you loved it?

To be honest, I was looking for a car to replace my Evo IX and wanted to pick up an E46. Pricks at the dealer did not give me the time of day, so I went somewhere else where the saleman pointed me to the E90...after the test drive I had to have her.

I should have included this tidbit of information. As it played out I was in between colors AW and Sparkling Graphite. Both colors are awesome, but there was something about the Sparkling Graphite that I gravitated to. While searching I found out that they only came out with this color in 2008. E90 in this color was hard to find and out of the question in that time line. In part I am I am also in a point in my life where I no longer need to drive my mom around that often so I can do with a coupe

I'm actually jealous you have an E90 in SG....

Quote:

Originally Posted by dom_cmh

Awesome story and beautiful ride! Why didn't you end up with the e90 though as you said you loved it?

Started dreaming of the E36 M3 before I could drive (legally). Finally realized my dream in June 09' when I purchased my 96 with 57k original miles. Continuing the trend in June of 12' with the purchase of my 08' E92. I hope to have many more M3's in the future.

I should have included this tidbit of information. As it played out I was in between colors AW and Sparkling Graphite. Both colors are awesome, but there was something about the Sparkling Graphite that I gravitated to. While searching I found out that they only came out with this color in 2008. E90 in this color was hard to find and out of the question in that time line. In part I am I am also in a point in my life where I no longer need to drive my mom around that often so I can do with a coupe

I'm actually jealous you have an E90 in SG....

Don't be jealous, your car is sweet! Any M3 is awesome. I do tend to prefer the E90 not so much for the room but for the back end design. I know what you mean about them being hard to find. I waited 6 months of daily online searching before finding mine and then having to fly to NYC and drive it home to Ohio. It was a florida car and not driven in NYC or I would have passed on it.

Test drove the 08' M3 a couple of times while on R&R leave and that's all she wrote. As soon as I got back to Iraq, I had my 335i up for sale and within a month, I had my M3 on order. Picked it up the next day I got off the plane and put 1200 miles on the car within 3 days, got the service out of the way and was on the Nurburgring. I love my M3 but doesn't mean I have love for M cars.